PA

~ This was written 1/31/12 ~

Guess what came to our in-box today!  PA baby!  :)  (PA = online pre-approval)  It is so hard to wait for these little baby steps now that we have our son's picture.  This process is so different from our first adoption.  After we saw Hope's picture for the first time, we had to wait just a month to have her in our arms.  It will be 4, 5, maybe 6 months before we get to bring our son home.  So, while I'm so so so happy to have his sweet smile to keep me company through a couple of snapshots, I think time is going to seem to pass slowly for a while. Anyway, here is the news:

The CCCWA agrees to "handle and process" our case.  hmmm - I realize this is not the final approval.  We need to have that signed LOA (Letter of Acceptance, a.k.a. Letter Seeking Confirmation from Adopter) in our hands to make all of this official.  However, with each baby step, I can feel the weight lifting.  CR says it could be 4-12 weeks before we see this arrive.

We've also been advised to keep our news somewhat private until the official LOA is signed and returned to China.  Although it seldom happens after the PA has been received, things could still change at this point.  C'mon LOA!  I'm not so great at keeping secrets.

LOI

~ This was written 1/19/12 ~


Had this e-mail exchange today:
~~~~~
Katie,
SEND IT SEND IT SEND IT!!!!
:)
Can I call you this morning?
~~~~~

Hi Beth!

This is great news!  I will upload your information right now and let you know when everything is uploaded successfully! :)
~~~~~

Dear Ron and Beth,

This email is to confirm the successful submission of your documents onto the CCCWA online system!

~~~~~

These messages are referring to our LOI (Letter Of Intent).  This is a letter that is written by prospective adoptive parents of waiting children that states their intention to adopt a specific child.  Whew!!!  The last few days have been a whirlwind!  After Katie called on Monday, we had 72 hours to consult medical professionals, specialists, other AP's (adoptive parents), etc...anybody we thought could offer us sound advice regarding our (I can say "our" now, yes?) little guy's ear condition.  Can I just say that these last few days of scrambling have been so hard to do under the radar.  We are trying to keep things quiet as we make these early decisions.  With so many unknowns, we just feel it is important to work through these early stages without sharing much information.  *SIGH*  I wish I could just have someone tell me what to do, that it's all going to be OK, and that we are strong enough to handle this.  Uncertainty is NOT my friend.


Anyway, we did it!  It is our intent to adopt Han Le Guang from Xuzhou SWI, Jiangsu Province, China.


Flashback to Monday night...there was absolutely nothing we could do after 9:00 in the evening about contacting anybody.  However, Tuesday morning...my dialing fingers got a workout.  Without going into the play by play, within a couple of days I was able to consult with our pediatrician, a specialist at the U of M, an ENT in Maplewood, and an AP who has two daughters with the same ear condition.  We talked for hours and asked endless questions.  The final question I asked each of the doctors was, "Do you see anything in these few pictures that would cause you not to pursue the adoption?"  All of them answered, "no."  That's it.  Let's do it!  :)  Both Ron and I sort of knew it was a done deal already.  However, with all of the questions, discussions, and phone calls, we were able to find out a lot more about what the future may hold for us and our family.


We were able to get our letter written, sent off to our agency to be translated by Tu, and sent to China, all within that short 72 hour window.  Can I sleep now?

LID & More!!!

~ This was written 1/16/12 ~

Oh my gosh! Oh My Gosh!! OH MY GOSH!!! I don't even know where to start.

We'd had instructions during the week to send our photos that CR would submit with a match so we got that together and sent them yesterday (1/15).

TONIGHT at 8:00 pm I got a phone call from Katie at Crossroads saying that she'd matched us with a baby boy! BOY? BABY? Whhhaaaaaat?! I was crazy with questions. Honestly...the information we had was that new children are typically added to the waiting child list on the last Monday of the month. That's two weeks away! And, HEY! We don't have our log-in-date yet. How could you match us. "Oh yeah. We got that today, too!" Can you believe this!

Two minutes later at 8:02 we got an email with this little guy's information. Here's the thing...Ron was at bowling!!! Do I open the email? Do I wait? What harm is a little peek? Well, I waited. Ron got home shortly after 9 and we opened the message together. He's amazing! Wait until you see this sweet boy!

BOY? Yes.

BABY? Yes.

AAAHHHHHHHH!!! My head is spinning!